Month: December 2010

Blueberry-Banana Pancakes

Recipe here.

These were absolutely fantastic.  Seriously; you MUST try these.  You can’t have more than about three on the griddle at any one time, just because the bananas have to be pressed into the batter fairly quickly after getting the batter down and you have to move fast, but they’re wonderful.  They’re a little more labor-intensive than your average pancake recipe, but well worth it.  The tart blueberries are the perfect foil for the banana, which gets even sweeter as it cooks.

I didn’t want to have to worry about cutting the banana to fit the pancake and what to do with the leftover banana stumps, so I just made the pancakes large enough to accommodate a quarter of a banana each (the same length as half a banana, just split lengthwise, as well.)

Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Quickbread

Recipe here.

This was a fantastic recipe.  It makes two loaves, so we nibbled on one for a couple of days and then sliced and froze the other, so that we could pull it out, as needed.  I wrapped the frozen slices individually, so that they kids could pull them out and take them to school (they thaw by snacktime.)

I used pecans, instead, because we prefer them to walnuts.

I’ll definitely be making this again.

Sweet Potato and Gruyere turnovers

Recipe here.

These were tasty and surprisingly easy.  There was a lot of chopping onions and shredding sweet potatoes and washing chard, but once the filling was made (which can easily be done a day ahead,)  the turnovers came together very quickly.  I made the “big batch” as was specified in the recipe, so that I could prepare some for the freezer, but the pre-made pie crust that I bought had lard in it (oops!), which Vegetarian Girl eschewed, so I made some with butter pie crust for her (recipe here.)

Pizza Pancakes & Greek-style Lima beans

Pizza pancakes recipe here.  I left the pepperoni out and made a few “veggie” pancakes for Vegetarian Girl first, and then added the chopped pepperoni, for the rest of us.

Lima beans recipe here.

I’ve been making some weird things with pancakes lately, and this recipe is definitely weird, but it was quick and easy and very tasty.  We all really liked them.

The lima beans were even better.  They were outstanding.  I would NEVER have guessed that frozen lima beans would be so good, but they were fantastic and buttery.  I used a larger bag than the recipe called for and didn’t add the final tablespoonful of olive oil that the recipe called for, and I believe it was an improvement.  They would have been WAY too oily if prepared exactly according to the recipe.

Steamed Butternut Squash Puddings with Vanilla Jack Sabayon

Recipe here.

These were a surprising hit with everyone.  The puddings have an interesting texture that is somehow dense, yet fluffy at the same time.  The flavor is outstanding and the sabayon is divine.  I was worried that a dessert with squash in it might not go over well with the kids, but they loved it!  We had a little sabayon left over, which was fantastic over fresh raspberries.  Mmmm…